Even with a few weeks of reflection, what occurred in these tropical communities remains incomprehensible. The first order of business must be re-establishing acceptable and viable living conditions for those affected. But these harrowing situations also offer survivors an important choice: Do they restore what has failed them, or do they take this as an opportunity to innovate?

Back in 2011, when a magnitude 9 earthquake hit just off the coast of Japan, the initial seismic activity broke records on its own, but the resulting tsunami and nuclear meltdowns made the disaster truly horrific. Almost 16,000 people died, and millions went without electricity. But as Reuters reported in a recent piece, in the six years since the disaster struck, a “quiet energy revolution” has started. Motivated by their harrowing experiences in the 2011 earthquake and its aftermath, residents of the northern city of Higashi Matsushima are using relief funds and clean energy subsidies to rebuild better than before:

After losing three-quarters of its homes and 1,100 people in the March 2011 temblor and tsunami … The city of 40,000 chose to construct micro-grids and de-centralized renewable power generation to create a self-sustaining system capable of producing an average of 25 percent of its electricity without the need of the region’s local power utility.

The city’s steps illustrate a massive yet little known effort to take dozens of Japan’s towns and communities off the power grid and make them partly self-sufficient in generating electricity.

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While they haven’t had to test their system the hard way, Higashi Matsushima officials estimate the community could power itself three days without outside support, thanks to its solar arrays, independent delivery system, and battery storage. While three days of electricity is, ultimately, just three days of electricity, in a disaster zone a 72-hour buffer can mean the difference between life and death.

These efforts reveal the importance of community-based initiatives. It’s tempting to try to become entirely self-sufficient, but having solar panels on your roof is meaningless if the panels are ripped off in a storm or one of a dozen other small fiascos unfold. That’s why the most effective microgrids have to be built by a community—or, in a best case scenario like Japan’s, a local government—that can pick up any individual's slack.

Right now, Florida, Texas, and especially Puerto Rico are facing incredible challenges as they begin to rebuild. But they’re also afforded a unique opportunity to think strategically about what they want for their futures and to set an example for the rest of the world gripped by an increasingly calamitous climate. This may not mean much now, while the wounds are still fresh. But, if nothing else, Japan’s shown that necessity can be the mother of invention.

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